The White Lie

Chapter 3

I had barely stepped foot out of my mum's car when I heard my best friend's high pitched squeal from across the lawn. I leaned across my recently vacated seat to kiss my mum goodbye, and was in the process of turning around when I was knocked into with such a force that the wind was knocked out of me. I spluttered, pushing Indie off me. God she has way too much energy.
"You're here!" She squealed, grabbing my bag off me and dragging it across her front lawn. She continued over to the group of people milling around just by her front door. A small, fiery redhead greeted me with a huge smile, her deep, green eyes sparkling in the morning sun.
"Wow Reece you look amazing! Ready to get this show on the road?" The girl, Sienna, squealed, wrapping me in her arms. I laughed, hugging my friend back. 
"I sure am!" Once we broke apart, Indie threw an arm over each of us, her 6 foot frame towering over mine and Sienna's small statures.
"Okay everyone, you just met Sienna, and this stunner right here is my best gal' Reece" Indie introduced me to the rest of the group, I looked around with a smile on my face, taking in each of the people before me.

"You know Nate of course" Indie exclaimed, her arm briefly gesturing to the tall boy directly to my right. I stared up at him with a warm smile and waved hello as he grinned down at me.

"Hey Reece, nice to see you again! Hope you're ready for the trip of a lifetime!" I laughed along with him meanwhile studying his features. I had met Nate several times and I knew he was two years older than us, was renting a place in town and was a builder. He had large, defined biceps, one covered by an intricate tattoo working its way into his t-shirt sleeve. He had light blonde hair and golden, tanned skin, clearly from working out in the sun and he was incredibly tall, towering over almost everyone else in the group and I had to crane my neck to look up at him.

Indie caught my attention, already moving on to introducing me to the next boy along. I teared my gaze away from my best friend's boyfriend, noticing the look of adoration that crossed his face as soon as Indie began to speak again. I smiled to myself, I wonder what it's like to have a boy look at you like that?

"And this right here is Kai Morgan, Kai this is Reece." The boy next to Nate, Kai, gave me a small, wry smile.
"Hey, it's really nice to meet you. Indie has been chattering about you non-stop since we got here this morning" I turned to glare at Indie, mortified. Kai laughed, pushing his floppy, chocolate brown hair out of his equally chocolatey eyes. I smiled at him, my heart skipping a beat. Wow, yeah. This week is definitely looking good. Literally.
"It's really nice to meet you too." I said to the boy, extending a hand while studying the smattering of freckles across his tanned face. Kai barely had a chance to respond before Indie began to gesture to the boy next to Kai, a boy I was all too familiar with.
"Reece, you remember Blake Perry don't you?" I blushed a crimson red, heat flooding my cheeks as a beautiful, achingly tall, sandy haired boy stepped forward, crushing me in his arms.
"Jones! Good to see ya!" his voice boomed in my ear. "
You too Blake, you too" I mumbled as he released me, tucking a loose strand of my ponytail behind my ear, which felt like a strangely intimate act. A week with Blake Perry. This will be interesting. Indie gave me a glance, embarrassingly wiggling her eyebrows at me, while the rest of the group looked on with curious expressions before turning to the final boy I hadn't been introduced to.
"And last but not least this is Austin Ford." I looked up at Austin, a smile on my face, shocked to see the scowl staring back at me. I looked away from his dark eyes, instead taking in his tall, lean frame, clad in black denim jeans and a leather jacket.
"Nice to meet you" I stammered, glancing back at his face. He nodded at me, and Blake jostled him. "Don't mind Austin ladies, man's not much of a morning person." Blake said with a wink. Austin shoved Blake back, but a small trace of humour appeared in his eyes. Okay, so maybe he only has a problem with me... Blake's banter was suddenly cut off by another high-pitched squeal from my best friend. I could only assume that more additions to our party were here.

 Two cars had pulled up on the curb during the introductions, and out of one hopped two of my friends, Alice and Scarlett. They waved excitedly at us, dragging their bags over to where we stood. Scarlett reached us first, beaming at us all.
"I hope you're all ready because this week is going to be one you don't forget!" She squealed looking excitedly from person to person in the group. The boys cheered in agreement and Scarlett turned to me, throwing her arms around me.
"Long time no see" she whispered into my ear, I laughed pulling away.
"How did you ever survive two days without me?" I joked back. She laughed, then turned her attention to the boys surrounding us, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder and began to introduce herself to the group of boys. I found myself envious of the confidence that oozed from my friend. I turned my own attention to the beautiful, long legged blonde girl who was standing chatting to Indie.
"Hey girl" I called, grabbing her attention. Alice spun around, squealing excitedly, gripping me by the forearms.
"Girl, you did not say that there was going to be this many hot boys!" she said, lowering her voice and nodding her head to the group of boys Scarlett held captivated. I began to respond, before being cut off by another round of cheering coming from the group behind us. 

Alice, Indie and I spun around to see the final member of our group joining Scarlett and the boys. Among back slaps and "hey mans", I managed to catch a glimpse of our arrival. Incredibly tall with denim jean clad legs that looked as though they went on forever. He had beautiful, thick blonde wavy hair, a sharply cut jaw and large, broad shoulders. Hm, maybe a swimmer? 
"Girl, you might want to put your tongue back in your mouth" Alice whispered, nudging me as she and Indie burst into a fit of giggles. Their laughter caught the attention of the boy, who turned our way. His crystal blue eyes locked onto mine as he smiled, making his way over to where us three girls stood.
"Ladies, nice to meet you, sorry I'm late. Please don't hold it against me for the rest of the trip!" He laughed, holding his hands up as if trying to keep the peace. Indie and Alice joined his laughter, introducing themselves. They then moved back to the bigger group and the boy set his eyes on me once again. He held out a hand,
"Hey, I'm Alexander" he said. I took his hand, introducing myself in the process.
"I'm Reece." I spluttered. Classy Reece, way to make a good first impression. 

"Well, very nice to meet you Reece, I'm sure hoping I'll going to get to know you better this week" he said, giving me a cheeky grin and wink before joining the rest of the group.

My stomach churned as I realised my butterflies were back in full flight and my hand burned from where his own had touched me just seconds before. Was that a British accent?